1D One Shots/Sickfics

Niall epilepsy

A very old request from StephenUniverse_Lapis. Sorry for taking so long :/ To everyone else who has given me requests, I'm doing my best to get through them as soon as possible.

Nobody saw it coming. Everybody knew it was a possibility, since the diagnosis everything was a possibility, but up until that moment it hadn't happened on stage and they had hoped it never would.

Liam was the first to notice something was wrong. He realized that the lad beside him had stopped singing, so he glanced to his left to see that Niall was standing still, too still, and staring off into the distance. Liam gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder, still not realizing what was wrong. But when Niall didn't respond, he figured out what was happening and immediately went into emergency mode.

First, he got Louis' attention and gave him the predetermined hand signal to let them know that Niall was about to have a seizure. Then, he turned back to Niall, who was still staring at some unknown far away point. He took his shoulders and managed to guide him backwards slightly, out of the spotlight and away from the microphone stands, before he collapsed suddenly. Liam managed to break his fall, so he didn't hit anything, but the instant Niall landed on the ground, he went completely stiff and Liam knew that the inevitable was about to happen and there was nothing he could do but watch and wait.

In the background, he could hear the music stopping and Harry starting to talk to the crowd, letting them know that Niall wasn't feeling well but that everything was okay. The lighting changed, the wonderful people in charge of tech clearly understanding what was going on and moving the lights so the only light was a spotlight focussed on Harry, effectively preventing the crowd from seeing anything that was happening farther back with Niall.

Louis came over to Liam's side just as Niall started to convulse. Liam was too focussed on watching his watch to say anything. This was how he always dealt with emergencies like this: he would become hyper-focused and unable to pay attention to anything else. Harry was pretty good at not showing his worry, hence why he was the one talking to the crowd, but Louis got panicky and stressed out. He paced back and forth for the entire two and a half minutes that the seizure lasted.

As soon as Niall stopped seizing and came to, both Liam and Louis dropped to their knees next to him.

"Hey Ni, you're alright. You just had a seizure, but you're going to be okay." Liam spoke softly but clearly, looking Niall in the eyes with as much calmness as he could manage. Louis, on the other hand, was playing with Niall's sweat-soaked hair, threading his fingers through it, as much to soothe himself as to soothe the faux-blond.

Niall groaned and tried to push himself to sit up, but Liam held him back.

"No, bud, just lie still for a minute. You've just put your body through a bit of a workout, just breathe for a minute," he advised. "Do you remember where we are?"

Niall frowned in concentration, then his eyes widened. "Con-concert?"

Liam sighed, relieved that he didn't seem to be too out of it. "Yeah, that's right. Don't worry, Ni, nobody saw. Listen, Harry's still distracting the crowd."

The three of them stayed there in the shadows for a few minutes, just letting Niall recover and calm down a little. A few people appeared at the side of the stage to make sure everything was alright and no medical attention was required and Liam gave them a thumbs up. As long as Niall wasn't injured and the seizure didn't go too long (which it hadn't) medical attention wasn't necessary.

"How are you feeling, Ni?" Liam asked. "Do you think you're ready to head back to the dressing room and rest for a bit?"

"Yeah, please," Niall agreed, still feeling very exhausted but ready for something a little more comfortable than the hard stage. "Help me?"

Liam and Louis helped Niall get to his feet, and he draped an arm over each of their shoulders as they supported him on the short walk to their dressing rooms, Harry following behind after having said goodbye to the crowd. Niall was weak and stumbled a few times, but his friends had a good grip on him and held him up.

"Sorry, lads," he mumbled once they had settled him on a couch backstage. Louis had immediately sat down next to him, cuddling him close. The other two were working on changing out of concert clothes and washing makeup off their faces.

"What are you sorry about?" Harry asked. "We know you didn't choose to have that happen."

"I just...I feel like a burden sometimes," Niall admitted.

Louis pulled him closer. "Don't say that, Ni. It's not your fault."

Niall snuggled up to Louis, resting his head on his shoulder. "Thank you."

Liam came over with a warm, damp washcloth a few minutes later and sat down on Niall's other side. "Shall we get that makeup off your face now? I bet it'll make you feel better if you're all clean."

Niall nodded and turned, letting Liam wipe all the makeup off his face. The warm washcloth felt good and he found himself leaning into it a bit.

"Hey!" Louis protested. "Come back and cuddle with me!"

"Nope, I'm keeping him!" Liam announced as Niall snuggled into his warm chest.

"I want cuddles too!" said Harry. He lifted Louis off the couch and pulled him away, running back to take his spot before Louis realized what happened.

"Hey! No fair!"

"Yes fair," responded Harry, sticking his tongue out at Louis as he wrapped his arms around Niall, joining the cuddle. "You need to go get changed out of your gross sweaty concert clothes. I'm all clean, Niall likes me better right now."

About half an hour later, they all headed out to the car that would take them to the hotel. The rest of the evening would consist of a lot of cuddles followed by sleep, because that was the best seizure recovery strategy ever.

Okay, it's pretty short, and I honestly don't know a ton about seizures, but I hope it was alright.

Question of the chapter! What's your favourite kind of pie? Mine is pumpkin.